In honor of Father’s Day, this month’s blog is all about paternal mental health. While much is known about peri/postpartum mental health for mothers, the mental health of fathers and the impact their mental health makes on their parenting abilities is not commonly discussed. While the mental health of fathers does not accrue the same amount of attention as maternal mental health, it is still extremely important and directly affects the whole family system.
According to Giallo et al. (2018) 8% of all new fathers have reported feeling a level of distress that affects them from the time their children are born until their children are over seven-years-old. Additionally, in an article by Skjohaug et al. (2018), it was found that prenatal fatherhood depression predicted postnatal fatherhood depression. Fathers were also more likely to experience higher levels of stress during pregnancy and then later higher levels of anxiety after pregnancy (Skjohaug et al., 2018). There are many factors that influence a father’s mental health and overall wellbeing. Certain factors that influenced fathers’ mental health are poor relationship quality, high work-family conflict, a lack of social support, a partner with mental health difficulties, and a lack of sleep (Giallo et al., 2018). All of these factors affect a man’s ability to parent efficiently and there are not a tremendous amount of studies that have provided evidence-based techniques that help fathers to cope with their postnatal parenting (Giallo et al., 2018). However, a few techniques that are reported to increase paternal mental health are perinatal couples therapy, group therapy, and psycho-education (Giallo et al., 2018). Giving fathers the tools to manage their emotions and their ability to tolerate stressful situations directly increases their children’s emotional regulation abilities (Giallo et al., 2018). Having a healthy and supportive relationship, good conflict-resolution skills, and healthy coping skills are all ways a father can have a happier and healthier relationship with their children.
Recently, new research surrounding paternal mental health has been studied to find the direct impact it has on their older children. In a study by Apsley and Walker (2020), a Family Stress Model was created to better understand the newfound positive correlation between the mental health of fathers and the mental health of their adolescent children. It was found that fathers with better coping skills were also more likely to have adolescents with lower levels of anxiety and depression (Apsley & Walker, 2020). One reason this is important is because fathers with better coping skills are more likely to have stronger bonds to their children and as a result their children are more likely to feel safe and supported. The study also concluded that children with fathers with better mental health simultaneously received better parenting from their mothers (Apsley & Walker, 2020). A proposed explanation for this finding is that fathers with better coping skills are less likely to exhibit aggressive behavior when in high conflict situations (Apsley & Walker, 2020).
While paternal mental health is not given the amount of attention it deserves, it is still extremely important to the health and security of the entire family system. Everyone can directly benefit from encouraging friends and family members to have open discussions about paternal mental health and its importance.
Written by: Amanda Meffert, a graduate student obtaining her Masters in Clinical Mental Health from Northwestern University. She provides services to children, adolescents, adults, and seniors to address a broad range of concerns, including adjustment difficulties, anxiety, depression and relationship challenges.
References
Apsley, H. B., & Padilla-Walker, L. M. (2020). Longitudinal links between parents’ mental health, parenting, and adolescents’ mental health: Moderation by adolescent sex. Journal of Family Psychology, 34(7), 886–892. https://doi-org.turing.library.northwestern.edu/10.1037/fam0000788.supp (Supplemental)
Giallo, R., Evans, K., & Williams, L. A. (2018). A pilot evaluation of ‘Working Out Dads’: Promoting father mental health and parental self-efficacy. Journal of Reproductive and Infant Psychology, 36(4), 421–433. https://doi-org.turing.library.northwestern.edu/10.1080/02646838.2018.1472750